“Thatmakes no sense.”
“Maybe not to you. No doubt the friendships you’veformed were made based upon mutual interests and compatible personalities andthose relationships were built on trust. I constantly question the motives ofthe people who call themselves my friends because most people of myacquaintance don’t give a shit about me, only what I can give them. You metShelly and Tara—they are prime examples of the type of women who travel in mycircles. Shallow, self-centered, spoiled to excess.”
“Butyou aren’t like that,” she said, her temper beginning to calm.
Hispowerful words were chiseling through her wall of anger. His pain was palpableand she found herself wanting to reach out to him despite the fact he’d lied to her, hurt her.
“Ah, but there is the rub, my sweetMeg. Until I metyou, I fear I was exactly like that.”
“Idon’t believe that.” She turned away. She was livid with this man and yet hereshe stood, defending him, reassuring him.
Wasshe a glutton for punishment or what? If she had a brain in her head, she wouldget the hell out of here and leave the poor little rich boy to his own devices.But then a memory formed. The image of Rob following her into the bar Thursdaynight, offering her a drink and a place to stay. Offering to help her, despitethe fact she’d looked like a drowned rat, despite the fact she’d attacked hisdriver and then him. No, she thought, he wasn’t like Shelly and her family. Nomatter what he might say, there was a lot of good in him. For all her faults,she considered herself to be a very good judge of character and despite his lie, she thought Rob was one of the kindest, most genuinemen she had ever met.
Turningaround, she watched him standing silently by the door, no doubt thinking hecould bar her escape. His head was bowed and she saw how much her anger wascosting him. Maybe there wasn’t such a thing as love at first sight. She didn’tdeny their original attraction could be called anything other than lust. Butsomehow, somewhere, in the midst of all that lust, love had come. It was justas he had said. By getting to know him, by learning his personality andfiguring out what made him tick, the love had grown. His compassion andgenerosity spoke to her. His sweet words and compliments warmed her lonelyheart. He said she saw the true man behind the name, but he also saw the trueMeg, the one she’d kept buried deep beneath the boring, sensible parts. The one who longed to live, to see the world, to love him.
Lovehim.
Takinga small step forward, she swallowed her wounded pride and approached him withher heart in her hands.
“Ilove you,” she whispered, silently wondering if anyone had ever sincerelyoffered him those words before.
Staggeringback against the door, Rob’s head jerked up. His mind was sure his ears haddeceived him. For a second, he thought–no he’d dreamed–that Meg told him sheloved him. Looking up, he saw the same look in her eyes he’d come to covet asthe weekend passed. The look he considered more valuable than all his property,all his possessions, all his money. Love. She lovedhim. Her lower lip trembled slightly and he realized how much courage it musthave taken for her to confess her feelings to him. Once again, he’d donenothing to deserve the trust she constantly bestowed upon him.
Fallingto his knees before her, he grasped her small hands in his own. “I love you,Meg and I’m so sorry. Sorry for everything. I promise if you’ll give me asecond chance, there will never be anything, but total honesty between us.”
Herlight, tinkling laugh shone over him like a glorious rainbow and he watched asshe kneeled down to join him on the floor.
“Rob,I understand why you lied and there is nothing to forgive. You gave me awonderful gift this weekend. You gave me yourself, the true you. Your namedoesn’t matter.”
“Whatabout the money?”
“Thatdoesn’t matter, either,” she replied seriously. “It’s just paper, honey. Andthat’s not what makes me love you. It’s you, the real you, that owns my heart.”
Laughinglightly at her casual dismissal of his billions, he leaned toward her. “I’dgive it all away to charity if it was the only way I could convince you tomarry me.”
“M-marry you?” Her voice stumbled over the words.
“Meg.”His grip on her hands tightened. “I don’t want just a weekend with you. I wanta lifetime. I want you to be my wife and I want you to have my babies. I wantto put down roots and have a real home with you. Will you marry me?”
Tearsformed on her long lovely lashes and she merely nodded, speech obviouslyfailing her.
“Isthat a yes, Margaret?” He returned to his familiar teasing and she choked out atearful laugh.
“Yes,”she whispered, before repeating the word louder. “Yes.”
Reachingout, he pulled her close to him, embracing her and his future with a heart thatfelt years younger and lighter than air.
“ThankGod,” he whispered into her ear.
Epilogue
Roblooked at his wife in the center of the circle of dancers. Loosening the bowtieof his tuxedo, he grinned to see her having so much fun and wondered what hisbusiness associates would say if they could see him now. He was attending hisvery first high school prom as Meg had insisted he help her chaperone. She andher students had talked of nothing but attending the school dance since thebeginning of spring and finally, the big night had arrived.
Meghad gotten special permission to pick the kids up at their homes sincetransportation was a problem for some. He and his lovely teacher had spent twohours traveling from door to door, picking up each student in her class andposing for innumerable photos. When they at last arrived at the dance withtheir students, all dressed to the nines, it was not in a limo, but aboard ahandicapped bus. He marveled at her boundless energy and enthusiasm. It wasclear her students adored her and he knew for a fact, the feeling was mutual.
Asthe song ended, Meg made her way through the throng of teenagers smiling as shewalked toward him. She was only
